Being Bold; What is it? What does it look like?

The Network Marketing Magazine’s July 2019 topic is being bold.

I think there is a lot of confusion over what being bold means. There are several examples of being bold with good and disastrous results. I propose we look at being bold from two angles

First, what characteristics might describe being bold?

Second, let’s look at two examples with positive outcomes, one from our past and one current example. Both are close to home for all of us.

I am blessed to be the professor for 11 very bright doctoral candidates at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Il. Our class is  Leadership, Organizational Dynamics and Change. We discussed what being bold means for any organization in class this week. We did some quasi-research taking a quick survey on what best describes being bold. We found that being bold could be for negative or positive motives. 5 common descriptors came up from our very unofficial survey. They are listed  in order of most referenced

1. Standing out / out of the box /forward thinking

2.Courage and risk taking

3.Commitment and perseverance

4.Choice outside of the norm

5.Strong united leadership

I may be a bit biased, however, I think this is a pretty good set of descriptors to guide leaders in being bold in any business or any organization. We do live in a world in 2019 characterized by what I term the Three C’s; Change, Complexity and, Competition. We must be bold in addressing these challenges, no matter what our business or organization does.

I do think the decision to be bold has always been a way organizations and leaders have moved forward in our past and in the current business environment. Here are two examples of being bold that are parts of our lives.

Next week, we in the United States are celebrating a being bold decision. July 4, 2019, marks the 243^rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence made a case to justify the separation of the American colonies from England and reasons to unify the colonies and engage foreign aid to win the impending struggle. The Declaration was primarily written by two prominent colonial lawyers, Thomas Jefferson was the principal author and John Adams’ collaborated. The document was edited by a committee made up of Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. It was approved by the Continental Congress and proclaimed on July 4, 1776. The Declaration was developed, acted on and is the foundation of our country as well as a model for others. The founding fathers did follow all of the descriptors noted above. This included a significant risk in signing the Declaration as the British had made it known that anyone signing the Declaration would be hanged.  John Hancock’s oversized signature is an excellent example of courage and commitment in being bold.

The second example of being bold is somewhat connected to the first in the way many of us will celebrate Independence Day. Several Fourth of July celebrations are back yard barbecues which probably include hamburgers, hot dogs and other delicacies.If you ask the average person what the company represents hamburgers they would probably say McDonald’s. Many people also would say that they don’t like McDonald’s burgers because they are frozen. Mc Donald’s listened and acted making a bold decision in 2018 to go to fresh quarter pounder burgers. David Rossi and Peri Hansen reported on this bold ,expansive 18,000 sites ,and expensive, 60 Million dollar,decision and it’s success  in the Korn Ferry Institute newsletter ( June,25,2019)  They report ”McDonald’s announced on Monday(June 24, 2019) that it gained  market share of its burger sales for the first time in five years—a victory the fast-food chain credits to its switch to fresh beef quarter-pound burgers. Last year, McDonald swapped out its frozen patties for fresh ones, which the company says led to an average 30% uptick in Quarter Pounder sales over the past 12 months. “. This is an excellent model of being bold to move an expansive organization forward. It looks to me that McDonald’s also followed the descriptors generated by a very bright group of learners and leaders.

Can you be bold in your network marketing business, any other business or nonprofit organization? I believe the answer is yes if you follow all the descriptors listed above. The choice is yours.

References

Hansen, P, Rossi, D. A Quarter Pound Shift, Korn Ferry Institute Newsletter, June 25, 2019

The Declaration of Independence,www.constitutionfacts.com

University of St Francis Stewardship Cohort, Summer 2019

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John Hackett

   John Hackett, Ed. D is an accomplished and experienced coach, trainer, writer, and leader in a variety of educational and other nonprofit and direct sales settings. He has 48 years of professional experience. He has trained, coached, and consulted with school districts, universities, social service agencies, and churches and direct sales organizations, police departments and law firms.

He is a growing, learning entrepreneur in coaching and training who is passionate about equipping leaders to develop other leaders to serve.


 He has been married for 42 years to Becki, a 41-year entrepreneur and had three daughters and two grandsons. John is also a long-distance, open water swimmer and auquabike triathlon competitor
John is a certified trainer and coach with the Direct Selling World Alliance.

He can be contacted to provide training coaching or consulting at either
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